Gustav Graves
Tan-Sun Moon, who later adopts the identity of Sir Gustav Graves, is the primary villain in the twentieth James Bond film Die Another Day. He is the first Bond villain to be portrayed by two different actors in the same film: Graves is played by Toby Stephens, whilst his alter-ego Colonel Moon is portrayed by Will Yun Lee. Film biography Colonel Tan-Sun Moon Gustav Graves is an identity adopted by North Korean Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, the son of General Moon. In a hope that a Western education will help bridge the gap between East and West, General Moon sent his son to study at Oxford and Harvard. It was an experience which would prove formative on the young Moon, providing him with the contacts which he would later use; including Miranda Frost. General Moon would later regret the decision, coming to believe that his son had become corrupted by the ideas and greed of the West. A dealer in hi-tech weaponry, Moon conducted various illicit operations in diamond smuggling to fund his private army and ambitions to forcibly unite the two Koreas. 007 is sent to assassinate Moon by intercepting and replacing a diamond smuggler; but finds that his cover has been blown by Frost, who is now a mole within the British Secret Service. After a firefight and a protracted chase by hovercraft, Bond eventually overcomes Moon, sending his hovercraft hurtling over the edge of a waterfall - apparently to his death. Sir Gustav Graves Unbeknownst to the rest of the world - including his own father - Moon survived the incident and changed his identity by way of painful gene-replacement therapy, replacing his DNA to give him the appearance of a British Caucasian male. Emerging from the therapy, he completed his transformation by adopting the name Gustav Graves. Sir Gustav Graves is a sophisticated, sarcastic, rude and arrogant business man. In a conversation with Bond later in the film, he admits that he modeled this new - disgusting - identity after him. He portrays himself to the world as an ecologist, fencing champion and adrenalin-junkie, with a penchant for speed. Activities which he has plenty of time for, given that the gene therapy has robbed him of the ability to sleep. His official story is that he is an orphan who worked in diamond mines in Argentina; from there, he discovered a great mine of diamonds in Iceland and made a huge fortune. With that fortune, Graves develops Icarus - a satellite which harnesses solar energy and focuses it, "gently", over the Earth, supposedly putting an end to famine and poverty. In reality, his fortune was made using a fake diamond mine as a front for laundering African conflict diamonds and his Icarus satellite is a super-weapon. The main purpose of Icarus is to blast its way through the heavily-fortified demilitarized zone, providing a pathway for the invading North Korean forces and bringing about Korean unification. Reunion Bond - unaware of his true identity - is introduced to Graves and Miranda Frost by Verity when he visits a London fencing club. After an aggressive fencing duel, Graves admits defeat and as a token of good sportsmanship invites Bond to his Ice Palace in Iceland to see the Icarus demonstration. After revealing his identity to Bond in Iceland, the villain attempts to murder him using Icarus. Graves then leaves on his private Antonov An-124 aircraft and sets his plans for Korean unification in motion. On-board the aircraft, surrounded by North Korean collaborators, Graves finally reveals his true identity to his father. Disgusted by what his son had become, General Moon refuses to have anything to do with the conspiracy - leading to his execution. The Death of Gustav Graves Unbeknownst to Graves, Bond had not only survived their encounter in Iceland, but had covertly boarded the plane in North Korea. Following the murder of General Moon, Bond's attempt to shoot Graves is foiled by a henchman whose interference leads to him shooting a window; causing the plane to depressurize. Donning mechanical armor, Graves and Bond fight hand-to-hand as the aircraft spirals out of control. After seemingly defeating Bond by electrocution, Graves attempts to evacuate the plummeting aircraft by parachute. As he leans over the fallen spy to gloat, 007 reaches out and yanks the parachute's release cord; causing Graves - along with the controls for Icarus - to be sucked through a hole in the fuselage and into the Autonov's jet engine. Henchmen Zao-Zao - Profile.jpg|Zao|link=Zao Miranda Frost (2) - Profile.png|Miranda Frost|link=Miranda Frost Mr Kil - Profile.png|Mr. Kil|link=Mr. Kil Generic Placeholder - Profile.jpg|Vladimir Popov|link=Vladimir Popov Game appearance Behind the scenes While an original character, the character of Gustav Graves incorporates a number of elements from Fleming's original novel Moonraker . In that novel, a Nazi adopts a new identity and becomes a popular British multi-millionaire. He then donates millions to create a "Moonraker" missile which is supposed to be for Britain's protection but is actually meant to destroy London. In addition, the club called Blades, a fencing club in this film, was featured as a gentleman's club in Moonraker. The name Colonel Tan-Sun Moon is a homage to the first official James Bond novel written after Ian Fleming's death, Colonel Sun by Robert Markham (Kingsley Amis). Trivia *An unusual feature of this villain is that Graves appears to be younger than James Bond. In general, Bond villains are roughly the same age or considerably older than Bond (with Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough a notable exception). *A ruthless man, Moon is seen kicking and vigorously attacking a punch bag revealing one of his own men inside when the bag is unzipped. Images Gustav Graves parachuting (Die Another Day).jpg|Gustav Graves arrives at his knighting ceremony by parachute. Die Another Day - Graves and Zao meet again.jpg|Moon reflects on his new identity. Die Another Day - Graves gloats over Bond.jpg|Graves gloats over the electrocuted Bond. Die Another Day - Graves holds on to the plane.jpg|Graves desperately clings to the torn fuselage. Die Another Day - Graves is sucked into the jet engine.jpg|Graves is sucked into the jet engine. See also *''Colonel Sun'' *''Moonraker'' *''Die Another Day'' *James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) Category:Characters killed by James Bond Category:Deceased characters Category:Die Another Day characters Category:James Bond characters Category:Villains Category:Main villains